Potpourri of titbits about Tamil cinema - Actor Nagesh

Nagesh, who reigned over the Tamil cinema with his humor and character acting for more than five decades with more than 800 films to his credit, is not with us today. He entered the celluloid world in the year 1959 and there was no looking back for him. His native place was Mysore. He was born to Krishna Rao and Rukmini on 27-9-1933. His father worked as the station master at Arikare in Karnataka. Nagesh’s given name was Gundu Rao. His mother used to call him affectionately as Nageswaran or Rao. Nagesh’s family lived at Tarapuram when they came to Tamil Nadu. Nagesh did his SSLC at Tarapuram and did his Intermediate at the PSG College in Coimbatore. When he was in the second year, he got chicken pox. And, he was afflicted by the disease again for two times. The scars on his face became permanent due to these repeated attacks.

Nagesh did not complete the course and worked at many places since he left his home in anger, vowing to become a successful man. And, he landed the job of a clerk in Southern Railway. During this period, he got an opportunity to act in a stage drama. He shared accommodation with lyricist Vali and actor Srikanth at the Club House, opposite Siva Vishnu temple at T. Nagar in Chennai. Thanks to their friendship, Nagesh joined many drama troupes and did minor roles in many plays. Actor Balaji, impressed with Nagesh’s acting took him to his house and recommended him to many production companies. ‘Thamaraikulam’ was Nagesh’s first film. The film, directed by ‘Mukta’ Srinivasan was released in the year 1959. After this film, Nagesh acted in minor roles in many films. When he was working for the film ‘Thaayilla pillai’, he got an offer from director Sridhar to act in his film ‘Nenjil or aalayam’. Nagesh did the role of a compounder in this film which won him appreciation from one and all. And, Nagesh became more popular as a comedian in Sridhar’s successive films including ‘Sumaithangi’, ‘Policekaran magal’ etc. Sivaji starrer ‘Rathathilakam’ and MGR starrer ‘Periya idathu penn’ also had Nagesh in their cast.

The year 1963 heralded a new era in Nagesh’s career. He had to work day and night as he had a series of films to his credit – ‘Server Sundaram’, ‘Padakotti’, ‘Panakkara kudumbam’, ‘Vettaikaran’, ‘Pachai vilakku’, ‘Kadhalikka neramillai’. He became a successful comedian and worked with all the leading heroes and directors.

I had met him for magazine interviews and also at many film functions. But he would politely refuse interviews. It used to be a delight watching him talk at length. I would gather interesting information from his talk as replies to my queries. Once, he told me that he set afire his stills from many of his films and also shields that he won for his performances out of frustration due to a serious problem in his personal life.